The present invention relates generally to electronic devices such as computer systems, electronic test equipment, electronic office equipment, or the like, and more specifically to a system for actively cooling electrical and electronic components within an electronic device.
The reliability and performance of an electronic device such as a computer system or the like are closely related to the temperature at which the device""s internal electrical and electronic components must operate. For example, a typical computer system may include a number of integrated circuit components mounted on one or more circuit boards supported within the computer system""s chassis or housing. During periods of heavy use, these components may generate excess heat which must be dissipated to prevent damage to the components or degradation of their performance.
For this reason, most computer systems include a forced air cooling system comprising one or more cooling fans mounted within the computer system""s chassis. These cooling fans circulate air over the internal electrical and electronic components of the computer system so that any excess heat generated by the components may be dissipated via convection. However, certain components within the computer system, most notably Large-Scale Integration (LSI) or higher generation integrated circuit devices, such as the computer system""s processor, may generate significantly more heat during operation than other, lower density, components. These components may be inadequately cooled by the conventional forced air cooling system resulting in the formation of localized xe2x80x9chot spotsxe2x80x9d (e.g., areas of elevated temperature) throughout the system.
Known to the art are spot cooling devices which may be used to cool components which generate an excessive amount of heat. Spot cooling devices typically comprise a miniature axial fan which draws air through a heat sink attached directly to the component. The air drawn through the heat sink by the fan removes excess heat from the component so that it may be more effectively dissipated by the forced air cooling system. Spot cooling fans are typically switched on or off depending on the mode of operation of the computer system. Alternatively, the speed of the fan may be controlled as a function of the temperature of the component which it is cooling. However, spot cooling fans operate independently of one another to cool a particular component. As a result, cooling of other components within the computer system may be adversely affected so that cooling of the computer system as a whole may be less than optimum.
Consequently, it would be advantageous to provide an integrated system for actively cooling an electronic device such as a computer system or the like, wherein the cooling system provides a proper amount of cooling to each electrical or electronic component within the device based on the temperature measured in the region surrounding that component.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a novel system for cooling the electrical and electronic components of an electronic device. The electronic device includes a plurality of regions each containing one or more electrical or electronic components which may generate heat during operation of the device. A temperature sensor is positioned in each region to sense the temperature of that region. A temperature regulating device such as, for example, a cooling fan, may provide cooling to the electrical or electronic components contained in the region. The temperature regulating device is operable at variable rates to adjust the amount of cooling provided to components in the region. A controller is operatively coupled to the temperature sensor and temperature regulating device of each region. The controller monitors the temperature of each region as sensed by the temperature sensor and varies the amount of cooling provided to that region by the temperature regulating device in proportion to the sensed temperature of the region. The controller also monitors the operation of each temperature regulation device to ensure that it is functioning properly.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention claimed.